Location: Hsinchu, Thai World Thai Cuisine
Travel note summary: I enjoy gathering friends for meals—it's both a hobby and a pleasure. Sharing dining moments together creates memories worth keeping. This gathering was decided just last Thursday via MSN and phone calls, and tonight nine people showed up. It was essentially a small reunion of my grad school friends in Hsinchu. Since almost everyone works at companies in the Hsinchu Science Park (like TSMC, UMC, Wistron NeWeb, etc.), naturally, I thought of Jinshan Street near the park for dinner. The weather turned cooler today, so I initially considered stir-fry but then thought, why not hot pot? I wanted to try Bashu on Jinshan Street, which seems to be owned by the same person as Chuankuzi. Unexpectedly, when we arrived at Bashu, there wasn't a single customer inside, and the staff were huddled around a table playing cards. Although it had switched to all-you-can-eat, aside from a few hot pot ingredients, there wasn't a single slice of meat in the freezer. Walking in, the owner seemed surprised anyone had entered. Orz. He quickly said, 'For nine people, I'll just charge for seven—I'll bring out the meat right away!' Seeing that sce…